1. (Field of the Invention)
The present invention relates to a printer, and relates more specifically to a printer whereby important printer output (a print job) will not become intermingled with and lost among other print jobs.
2. (Description of Related Art)
Computer networks in which a plurality of host computers are connected to share one or more printers over a network connection are common today. Any one of the host computers in such a printing system is thus able to send a print job signal to a networked printer so that the job will be executed.
One such system whereby a plurality of users share a single printer in a networked environment is taught in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. HEI 8-2790 and HEI 8-2792. If the printer in this disclosed printing system has a plurality of output bins, one output bin can be allocated to each user so that the bins are used similarly to individual mailboxes for collecting print-out from individual users. An advantage of this system is that the need for manual sorting is reduced.
A problem with this conventional printing system, however, is that when print job signals arrive at the printer from plural users, the printer can start printing unexpectedly. An unintended result of this is that an important print-out from an important user can become intermingled with and lost among other print-out, and the user does not realize until later that the important print-out has been completed.
In addition, print-out can be sent to the printer from unknown sources, much like electronic mail is often received from unknown senders. In addition, an unknown number of print-out can be sent to the printer from various sources. In both such cases important print-out can become mixed with other print-out, and thus go unnoticed.